Agitate, America!: What we allow is what will continue

A few attention-getters in my in-box today that somehow seem related: “The rise in temperatures over the past 100 years should have taken 5,000 years. We cannot leave it up to capitalists and politicians to lead us away from disaster. Please read this and make the fight for climate change a priority, for your children and mine,” from a friend on Facebook, regarding “We’re on Fire and Not in a Good Way,” www.takepart.com.

“It takes 4.4 MILLION gallons of water to frack one gas well — and big oil wants to drill tens of thousands of wells. Can you think of much better uses for water than fracking?” From stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/03/12/how-much-water-it-takes-to-frack-a-well.

“Big Coal spent $17,341,948 lobbying Congress in 2012. Childhood asthma increased up to 50 percent in the last 10 years. Hey, Congress, what’s worth more: $17mil or air for our kids?” From www.represent.us, Stop Lobbyist Bribery at www.kstreet5k.org.

From Daily Kos: “President Obama nominates civil rights champion for labor secretary. Republicans object to his role in fighting for working people.” (dailykos.com/story/2013/03/18/1193249/-Civil-rights-champion-Thomas-Perez-being-nominated-for-labor-secretary)

I ask you, why would Republicans object to a labor secretary fighting for working people? Why aren’t they fighting for working people themselves? Maybe because by fighting for wealthy employers, they are inadvertently fighting against working people. Unintentional harm is nonetheless harmful.

From TruthDig.com, The Shame of America’s Gulag, by Chris Hedges: “‘People have said to me that the criminal justice system doesn’t work,’ [Bonnie] Kerness [of the American Friends Service Committee Prison Watch] said. ‘I’ve come to believe exactly the opposite — that it works perfectly, just as slavery did, as a matter of economic and political policy. How is it that a 15-year-old in Newark who the country labels worthless to the economy, who has no hope of getting a job or affording college, can suddenly generate $20,000 to $30,000 a year once trapped in the criminal justice system? The expansion of prisons, parole, probation, the court and police systems has resulted in an enormous bureaucracy which has been a boon to everyone from architects to food vendors — all with one thing in common, a paycheck earned by keeping human beings in cages. The criminalization of poverty is a lucrative business, and we have replaced the social safety net with a dragnet.’”

From Class Gone Wild, facebook.com/classgonewild, paraphrased: “When I was 5, my mom told me that happiness is the key to life. When I went to school, they asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life.”

And finally, “What you allow is what will continue,” from The Other 98 percent. “We can all be change-makers. Every last one of us.”

Nancy Churchill was raised in the D.R.C. (Congo), raced stock cars on short dirt tracks for 25 years, and is a proud, lifelong member of “We, the People.” She lives in Oregon, Ill.

By Nancy ChurchillA Progressive VisionaryA few attention-getters in my in-box today that somehow seem related: “The rise in temperatures over the past 100 years should have taken 5,000 years. We cannot leave it up to capitalists and politicians to lead us away from disaster. Please read this and make the fight for climate change a priority, for your children and mine,” from a friend on Facebook, regarding “We’re on Fire and Not in a Good Way,” www.takepart.com.“It takes 4.4 MILLION gallons of water to frack one gas well — and big oil wants to drill tens of thousands of wells. Can you think of much better uses for water than fracking?” From stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/03/12/how-much-water-it-takes-to-frack-a-well.“Big Coal spent $17,341,948 lobbying Congress in 2012. Childhood asthma increased up to 50 percent in the last 10 years. Hey, Congress, what’s worth more: $17mil or air for our kids?” From www.represent.us, Stop Lobbyist Bribery at www.kstreet5k.org.From Daily Kos: “President Obama nominates civil rights champion for labor secretary. Republicans object to his role in fighting for working people.” (dailykos.com/story/2013/03/18/1193249/-Civil-rights-champion-Thomas-Perez-being-nominated-for-labor-secretary)I ask you, why would Republicans object to a labor secretary fighting for working people? Why aren’t they fighting for working people themselves? Maybe because by fighting for wealthy employers, they are inadvertently fighting against working people. Unintentional harm is nonetheless harmful.From TruthDig.com, The Shame of America’s Gulag, by Chris Hedges: “‘People have said to me that the criminal justice system doesn’t work,’ [Bonnie] Kerness [of the American Friends Service Committee Prison Watch] said. ‘I’ve come to believe exactly the opposite — that it works perfectly, just as slavery did, as a matter of economic and political policy. How is it that a 15-year-old in Newark who the country labels worthless to the economy, who has no hope of getting a job or affording college, can suddenly generate $20,000 to $30,000 a year once trapped in the criminal justice system? The expansion of prisons, parole, probation, the court and police systems has resulted in an enormous bureaucracy which has been a boon to everyone from architects to food vendors — all with one thing in common, a paycheck earned by keeping human beings in cages. The criminalization of poverty is a lucrative business, and we have replaced the social safety net with a dragnet.’”From Class Gone Wild, facebook.com/classgonewild, paraphrased: “When I was 5, my mom told me that happiness is the key to life. When I went to school, they asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life.”And finally, “What you allow is what will continue,” from The Other 98 percent. “We can all be change-makers. Every last one of us.”Nancy Churchill was raised in the D.R.C. (Congo), raced stock cars on short dirt tracks for 25 years, and is a proud, lifelong member of “We, the People.” She lives in Oregon, Ill.